Field
The present specification generally relates to determining claim references in patent documents and, more particularly, to systems and methods that determine claim dependencies in a patent document and create a streamlined claim tree therefrom.
Technical Background
Currently, imaged and/or digitally rendered patent documents such as published patents and published patent applications require optical character recognition (OCR) software to translate the images and/or digital renderings into computer readable text. Current OCR software, which may be used to translate the images and/or digital renderings of the claims portion of the patent documents into computer readable text, is insufficient in that it does not accurately provide information in a data file such as an XML file regarding claim dependencies, regardless of the language and the syntax in which the claim is written. In addition, the OCR translation may contain errors that are not easily detectable by electronic means. Moreover, the OCR software generates data that cannot be used to quickly create a claim tree that can be used to verify the accuracy of a determined claim dependency.
Accordingly, a need exists for systems and methods that can obtain imaged and/or digitally rendered patent claims, quickly and accurately determine claim dependencies, regardless of language or syntax used to draft the claim, detect and correct errors and provide confidence levels, and provide a claim tree based on the determined claim dependencies.